India probes Tata's iPhone parts factory over contamination claims

An Indian state health authority is investigating how liquid discharged from Apple supplier Tata’s iPhone components factory may have affected farmers, some of whom have reported skin issues linked to contamination in nearby farmlands, according to three officials and a document reviewed by Reuters, News.Az reports.

The health investigation opens a new front in an environmental dispute that has become a test case for India’s push to become a major manufacturing hub for Apple iPhones. The Tata Electronics plant in Hosur in southern Tamil Nadu state was issued a warning notice by the state pollution control board on May 25 for allegedly contaminating groundwater in adjacent farms.

Tata said in a statement this week that the pollution board had dropped its scrutiny after confirming its analysis of recently collected water samples from inside the facility did “not indicate any contamination.”

The pollution board and the state government have not commented on the matter and did not respond to Reuters emails and phone calls requesting comment. Apple has also not commented and did not respond to Reuters requests. Tata did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

According to government sources and a letter, health officials in the district have been conducting their own investigation since at least late May following farmer complaints about the plant, which opened in 2021 and produces iPhone back covers and other components.

A health inspection found that discharge from the Tata plant had created a “severe foul smell” and left water “unsuitable for animals to drink,” according to a May 27 letter sent by Anish Parvin, a government medical officer in Ullugurukkai village, to the state-run Institute of Vector Control and Zoonoses in Hosur.

The letter, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters, said wastewater released from Tata Electronics had accumulated in nearby agricultural land and was contaminating clean water in nearby wells. It also stated that people were experiencing skin-related health issues due to the contamination. Parvin told Reuters she had received complaints from farmers about health problems, although no cases had yet been clinically confirmed.

Two water samples from the farms have been submitted by health officials to a state government laboratory for testing, according to a government source.

Both samples tested positive for E. coli, a bacterium found in sewage that indicates faecal contamination of the water supply, according to a report from the district public health laboratory dated May 30, obtained by Reuters.

The investigation by state health officials, which Reuters is reporting for the first time, is ongoing, with a second set of test results still awaited, said Rajesh Kumar C, a senior government official overseeing public health in the region.

The dispute has pitted a farming community against the Tata Group, an industrial giant that is one of Apple’s key suppliers and central to Apple’s efforts to diversify production beyond China. India is expected to produce 26% of the world’s iPhones in 2026, up from 6% four years ago, according to research firm Counterpoint.

Tamil Nadu is a major manufacturing hub, also hosting another Tata iPhone assembly plant, while Samsung and Hyundai Motor also operate large factories in the state.

Scrutiny of the Tata plant began after farmer complaints prompted the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to seek explanations from the company and warn that the facility could face closure.

Newly revealed documents show farmers first raised concerns in a December 8 letter to Tata. The letter, from a local social justice group and 15 farmers, alleged wastewater from the plant had polluted streams, ponds and groundwater, leaving them unable to cultivate.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev